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Doesn't it eat at your frugal heart to have to buy a whole compact disc just to hear that one song that you like? Especially when you've heard this same album could make cats cry out in agony.

That's why millions of Americans have already discovered the pleasure of recording their own CDs. If you haven't, try these tips to finding those songs for your own Greatest Hits album.

Compact Disc Burners Almost every new computer comes with a CD burner that will put fresh music in your hands in only minutes. It can also be used to record data such as documents or software programs on your blank CDs. Or you can buy a CD recorder for your stereo system.

But where will you get your music from? Unlike audio cassettes ... anybody remember those? ... you can't record from the radio. You need another CD to record from.

Recording MP3s The Internet is a great source for finding the music you need to record. Normally, an audio file will take more than two hours to download on a 56K modem. MP3s, which are compressed digital audio files, cut the download time to mere minutes!

Peer-to-Peer Sharing Hundreds of sites offer MP3s, but they can cost you dear dollars. The not-so-new trend in MP3 swapping, called Peer-to-Peer Sharing, allows you to directly exchange audio and video files with other computer users.

The best part is that some programs for P2P sharing are free and downloadable. After finding your song choices, and saving them to your computer, you're ready to burn your own CD.

Copyright Laws Record companies and artists alike are fighting against CD-burning and peer-to-peer sharing. They believe both are reasons for lowered recording industry revenues in the last few years.

As of now, however, it's still legal to burn CDs for personal use, but not for commercial distribution.

Written by Jorge Aguilar

Are you an expert on burning CDs? E-mail us.